Abstract
Natural killing by mouse spleen cells can be stimulated in vivo by interferon or by agents that stimulate interferon, such as poly I·C. Natural killing can be suppressed in vivo by the sustained administration of 17β-estradiol. In BALB/c mice that had been treated with 17β-estradiol for 10 weeks, natural killing did not respond to intravenous poly I·C, although stimulation of circulating interferon was equal to controls. Estradiol, then, does not block interferon production but does suppress the response of natural killer cells to interferon. It is suggested that estrogens either block the maturation of natural killer cells or reduce the number of natural killer cell precursors.
Footnotes
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↵2 Address reprint requests to Dr. Seaman at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, 4150 Clement Street (151-T), San Francisco, California 94121.
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↵1 This work was supported by the Department of Health, State of California, Grant 76-57090, by the Veterans Administration, and by United States Public Health Service Grant AI-05629.
- Received August 10, 1979.
- Accepted September 13, 1979.
- Copyright © 1979 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.
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